"..." In a room with minimalistic decor, a simple chair and tea table was at the center. In this chair, a woman so beautiful that the world seemed flawed in comparison sipped emerald tea from a jade teacup.
This woman wore a cyan outfit with sapphire embroidered sunflowers surrounding it. Her milky white legs revealed itself from beneath her elegant dress, her soft, tender arms slowly moved in harmony with the world, and her breathing seemed synced with the pulse of the Earthly Moon.
An old man appeared into the room from the door like a mortal. He entered but his eyes contained very little vitality as if he was slowly withering away. He seemed exhausted beyond belief but still maintained an appropriate posture of respect in front of this young lady.
This was Jun Lei!
The young woman was Ma Xiuren!
No longer did she have a seventeen-year-old appearance but one that seemed closer to her early twenties. Her beauty matured greatly as she grew with age. If Yan Zaizen saw her today, it would be difficult to notice her with just appearance alone.
"Miss, your cultivation has been unsealed. Should we make a move?" Jun Lei inquired, his expression was filled with exhaustion.
"..." Ma Xiuren looked at Jun Lei, her eyes flickering with profound thought.
"He's still in chaotic space. It is difficult to enter properly without getting lost or suffering. No one has found a way to do so safely without a Heavenly Commander interfering. After all, the ripping force in chaotic space was insidious and the time-flow is too chaotic. With the agreement devised by the Heavenly Commanders, no one who can reliably take action can." He explained.
In truth, it wasn't that simple. Chaotic space was a horrendous environment unsuited for the living. A large reason had to do with the ripping force, irregular time-flow, no sense of direction, and difficulty in traveling. It lacked essence, lacked life, and any rip into it could send you into some distant, unknown area.
In truth, besides knowing that Yan Zaizen was still in the realm's chaotic space zone, they actually couldn't figure out where. His barrier of chaotic space made it incredibly difficult to get any insight into his exact location.
"It's possible he gained some spatial Heavenly Commander's talisman. This is why he's so difficult to find. His luck is truly outstanding. However, it won't last for long," Jun Lei added. Many had a similar thought. Not a single person attributed his escape to his own comprehension. Instead, they felt he obtained a realmship and a legacy from a spatial-attributed Heavenly Commander.
This was definitely the most logical path to believe. After all, even Heavenly Commanders had difficulty locking onto his location. It was unbeknownst to them that Yan Zaizen's comprehension had already reached the Domain-level.
"..." Ma Xiuren was silent for a second, then she waved her delicate hands slightly. Jun Lei bowed slightly and directly took his leave. He felt happy and conflicted simultaneously. Ma Xiuren had decided to continue her cultivation until it was no longer possible. This was beneficial to him and her, but Yan Zaizen, this innocent child was drawn into this unwillingly.
"Haaa...I can only hope for your survival." With that, Jun Lei put Yan Zaizen's fate into the back of his mind.
As for Ma Xiuren, her eyes were slightly watery as she stared aimlessly outward. If she could help him, she would. Unfortunately...
-----
A handsome, elegant young man dressed in grey walked through the halls of the Yun Clan headquarters located on the Xiuhei Earthly Moon. He had bright eyes that seemed to contain the sky itself.
Beside this man was a woman, she was a middle-aged beauty and had an aura of an empress. Her chin was held slightly high, her gaze was filled with haughtiness, and her stable and soft steps could capture the world's attention.
Yun Baili, the young man, frowned and said, "Mother, I'm certain of my success." Yun Baili's tone was confident but held immense respect towards this woman.
"Hmph," Yun Baili's mother, Yun Mengli, softly snorted. One could tell from her posture that she didn't have much confidence in this son of hers. "The eight other Earthly Moon forces have already decided on their four candidates. Your brother needs this token."
For the Earthly Beginning and Heavenly End trials, four tokens were given to a random female on each of the Nine Earthly Moons. They have long since settled on their participants, only the Xiuhei Earthly Moon has yet to decide on their four. The current owners of a token were the Xiuhei Sovereign, Fate Fist Sect - a peak seventh-level force, Ma Xiuren who was selected at random, and Yan Zaizen.
The first two powers were impossible to obtain the token from and they were protecting Ma Xiuren. This left only one token to fight for.
"I know, Mother." Yun Baili's eyes softly shined with light. His younger brother, Yun Xuli, possessed far greater talent than him. Not only did he develop a middle-tier Mortal Dao, but his comprehension into laws were unprecedented in the Yun Clan.
"It's good that you do know." Her tone was slightly harsh. Suddenly, she recalled something and further anger flickered into her eyes, "if you didn't lose the token initially, would your grandfather be pressured to this extent?"
Yun Baili's failure to grasp the token from Yan Zaizen left a bad taste in all the elders' mouths. Approval of Yun Baili had slipped considerably since then. Even Yun Xuli may have been affected if his grandfather didn't take the brunt of fault.
Their grandfather was a grand elder at the sixth-floor Heavenly Genesis Realm. He had sufficient clout to make decisions and influence his talented descendants' rise. However, Yun Baili's failure left a gap of trust, especially after Yan Zaizen hid in the insufferably difficult chaotic space.
"I will redeem myself, Mother." His tone turned slightly more obedient. He was aware of his fault. Therefore, he had no intention to fail again.
"As long as you do," she snappily said, "for now, your father has devised a plan. Unfortunately, you'll be in direct competition with the other forces. Be sure to succeed."
She stopped her steps, looked deeply into those bright eyes and her tone turned heavier than the world itself, "YOU can NOT fail! Or else, it's better if you don't come back." With that, she waved her hand at him and walked away.
He slightly bowed, remaining silent. After a while, his gaze flickered with an unprecedented level of resolve but also deep rage. He thought, "I won't fail. However, when the trial starts, I'll be the one to participate. Not him! When I return, let's see if you dare have such an attitude towards me!" With a slight tremble, he walked in the opposite direction.
-----
"Haaa…" Yan Zaizen sighed. On the deck of the realmship, he looked outwards at empty blackness that was chaotic space.
Three hundred and sixty-three years have passed since their decision to cultivate. During this time, Yan Zaizen, Tao, and Bai Lufeng had diligently cultivated without any care for resource waste or usage. Despite this, a formless pressure enveloped his body.
In the outside world, three and a half years had passed. While they cultivated, it seems the senses of those Heavenly Commanders had never left his general vicinity. Being under constant watch made him feel nervous.
Soft steps echoed behind him as Tao arrived. Tao had undergone a complete change. In the span of fifty or sixty years, Tao went from half-step Origin Core Realm to late-Origin Core Realm. During which, Yan Zaizen's available resources only kept growing in quantity and quality.
Now, while cultivating for over three hundred years, he has ascended to the mid-True Essence Realm. With Yan Zaizen's recent breakthrough, they both were at the same level of cultivation once more.
The reason Tao's realm didn't exceed mid-stage was due to his sudden shift in priorities. While cultivating in chaotic space, he gleaned insight into an aspect of spatial laws. He developed a conceptual law!
Spatial Point of Endless Force!
It embodied a portion of Yan Zaizen' Spatial Form of Infinite Stability, but only the ripping force of chaotic space! This delayed his qi cultivation base by quite a bit, but to comprehend and focus on an upper-tier World Law wasn't an incorrect decision.
"You sense it too?" Tao remarked, looking in the direction of Yan Zaizen's gaze.
"Mhm. They're setting up a formation to inverse chaotic space with the spatial void, then another to interact with the spatial void and seal it, forcing us out during the transition." Yan Zaizen's abilities enabled him to sense clearly the happenings of the outside world. During these three years, the gigantus forces were not idle. Instead, they conjured up a way to force Yan Zaizen out from hiding.
In chaotic space, Yan Zaizen was too difficult to follow or find. It wasn't safe to send anyone but top spatial cultivators to do so. In that case, they decided to devise a method to force him out instead.
Tao understood this. He comprehended a concept of chaotic space and felt a deep connection with it over these years. The formation was connecting with it at this very moment. If it activated, they would likely suffer.
"Running is likely impossible," Tao surmised his assumption. In truth, with Heavenly Commanders on watch, it's unlikely they could escape. He looked towards Yan Zaizen and added, "should we ditch the token?"
"The token was given to me by someone. Our fates may have touched briefly, but I'm unwilling to give it to anyone besides her. Even if gods and devils demanded it, I wouldn't yield." Yan Zaizen calmly stated his intentions with a shake of his head.
Tao softly nodded. As someone who was bestowed Yan Zaizen's dao and knew his mantra of 'what's his is never anyone else's, nor should they touch it,' it's unlikely he would simply fold here.
"What's the plan?"
"This token is designed to connect to another token. I believe that the token belongs to her. It's probably the people Yun Baili was hindering earlier. Perhaps, we just need to wait by stalling," Yan Zaizen assessed. His gaze towards that spot grew colder and colder.
Unfortunately, he didn't know of Ma Xiuren's weakness. The strongest expert she had was Jun Lei, a half-dead fourth-floor Heavenly Genesis cultivator.
"Fight. If the world refuses to open up a path, you make one yourself." Pinaka tyrannical voice resounded in his soul.
Yan Zaizen revealed an innocent smile, but his eyes were colder than ice.